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Uncle  John  Metzger’s  Home  at  Lordsburg,  Cah 


A  MODEL  LIFE 


•  e.OR. 

Uocle  Jobo  Metzger  od  Earth. 


“Hear,  O  my  son ,  and  receive  my  sayings;  and  the 
years  of  thy  life  shall  be  many." — Prov.  4 :  10. 

“  O  Lord \  thou  art  my  trust  from  my  youth  P — Ps.  7/  .*  j. 


By  M.  M.  ESHELMAN. 


Mount  Morris,  III.: 

BRETHREN  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

1898. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


https://archive.org/details/modellifeoruncleOOeshe 


5"  O  f  X. 


n 


A  MODEL  LIFE 

...OR... 

Uncle  John  Metzger  od  Earth. 

i 


ft 

Here,  on  the  oft-washed  sands  of  the  great 
blue  Pacific  Ocean,  so  near  the  dashing,  splashing 
white  waves  which,  in  their  spreading,  almost 
touch  my  feet,  while  far  away,  toward  the  West 
and  South  and  North,  awed  by  the  grace  and 
power  of  our  Creator,  I  sit  and  breathe  the  sweet¬ 
ness  and  vigor  of  “the  great  deep,”  and  think  of 
that  dear  lovely  soul  who  often  looked  upon  what 
I  now  see,  and  caught  the  fervency  1  now  enjoy, 

“Our  sympathies  across  the  wave, 

Touch  noble  souls  beyond  the  grave,” 

here,  in  full  view  of  some  of  the  great  and  won¬ 
drous  works  of  God,  I  love  to  write  of  that 
good  and  holy  man, — Uncle  John  Metzger,  who 
made  men,  women  and  children  better  by  his  be- 
ing  among  them.  This  little  record  of  some  of 

o  o 

his  good  deeds,  given  him  by  our  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther,  is  sent  out  to  help  every  boy  and  girl  who 
wants  to  go  on  up  and  up  to  a  nobler  and  higher 


6 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


and  sweeter,  purer  life.  To  know  something 
about  a  man  who  had  a  big  heart, — a  heart  large 
enough  to  love  everybody,  though  it  lived  in  a 
frail  little  house  nearly  eighty-nine  years,  must 
be  helpful  to  all  who  love  good  things,  good  peo¬ 
ple,  and  a  happy  home. 

If  there  had  been  no  child  Jesus  there  could 
have  been  no  man  Jesus;  and  if  there  had  been  no 
noble,  manly  Jesus,  there  could  have  been  no  Un¬ 
cle  John  Metzger,  as  he  was.  Because  there  is 
One,  “fairest  among  ten  thousand,”  “a  Prince  of 
Peace,”  “full  of  favor  and  truth,”  Uncle  John 
Metzger  was  able  to  become  what  he  was,  and 
now  is.  Plence,  in  looking  at  him  and  seeing  his 
loving  life,  you  must  look  beyond  him  and  see 
his  Model  and  our  Model. 

“  Faithful,  hopeful,  wise  in  charity — 

An  angel-watered  lily,  that  near  God 
Grows  and  is  quiet.” 

A  party  once  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  high 
mountain  and  had  a  guide  to  show  them  the  way. 
Coming  to  a  dangerous  place,  where  each  one 
had  to  put  his  foot  into  the  guide’s  hand,  to  be 
lifted  over  the  perilous  spot,  one  of  the  party  was 
slow  to  risk  it,  when  the  guide  said:  “This  hand 
never  lost  a  man.”  The  traveler  then  trusted  the 
guide  and  got  safely  over.  So  Jesus  helped  Un- 


A  MODEL  LIFE.  7 

cle  John  over  all  the  hard  places.  He  never  los¬ 
es  those  who  trust  him . 

At  a  time  when  America  was  almost  all  wilder¬ 
ness  yet,  and  when  Indians  were  owners  of  the 
country  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  millions  of  eyes  in  Europe  were  looking 
westward  to  America  as  the  land  of  free  homes 
and  true  liberty,  grandfather  and  grandmother 
Metzger  were  among  the  number.  They  lived  in 
Holland,  Europe.  They  made  up  their  minds  to 
come 

ACROSS  THE  ATLANTIC  OCEAN 

to  America.  There  were  no  United  States  then, 
for  there  were  no  States  to  unite.  This  was  in 
1758.  But  Uncle  John  Metzger’s  grandfather  and 
grandmother  had  no  money  to  pay  their  ship’s 
fare.  However  they  went  on  board  the  vessel, 
and,  after  long  sailing,  came  into  port  at  Balti¬ 
more, — then  but  a  small  place.  There  were  no 
friends  to  meet  them  and  welcome  them.  There 
was  no  one  to  help  pay  their  fare,  and  bid  them 
to  a  cheerful  fireside.  The  laws  of  the  land  were 
such  that  if  a  passenger  could  not  pay  his  fare  he 
had  to  be  sold  to  some  one  and  work  it  out, 
hence  the  husband,  whose  name  was  John,  was 
sold  to  one  man,  and  his  wife  to  another.  By 
steady,  hard  work  and  receiving  larger  credit 


8 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


than  his  wife,  he  soon  paid  his  debt,  or  fare; 
then,  like  a  good,  kind  husband,  went  to  work  to 
earn  money  to  pay  that  of  his  wife’s,  and  then 
they  were  able  to  live  together  again.  This  is 
how  they  began  life  in  America. 

At  that  time,  dear  children,  the  central  and 
western  parts  of  Pennsylvania  were  thinly  set¬ 
tled.  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  other  States 
west  were  not  known.  They  did  not  exist  as 
States.  There  were  vast  stretches  of  woods  on 
hills  and  in  valleys,  where  the  red  men,  with  their 
squaws  and  pappooses  lived.  Deer,  turkeys  and 
pheasants  and  fish  and  berries  was  their  food. 

If  you  have  studied  history  you  will  know  that 
when  Uncle  John’s  grandfather  and  grandmother 
went 

FROM  BALTIMORE  TO  BLAIR  COUNTY,  FA., 

General  Washington  was  a  young  man,  and  a  few 
years  before  was  with  General  Braddock,  who 
was  beaten  by  the  Indians  in  a  great  battle,  not 
far  from  where  Uncle  John’s  grandfather  made  a 
home  for  himself  and  family. 

These  were  times  of  trouble.  The  white  peo¬ 
ple  wanted  the  lands  to  make  homes  and  the 
Indians  wanted  the  country  for  themselves,  and 
for  their  deer  and  wild  turkeys.  These  opposing 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


9 


wants  brought  hatred,  and  hatred  brought  strife, 
and  strife  brought  murder,  and  burning,  and  ruin. 
The  love  of  money  was  the  root  of  this  evil. 

When  Uncle  John’s  grandfather  and  grand¬ 
mother  got  to  Blair  County,  Pennsylvania,  they 
went  to  work  to  make  a  home  in  the  new  world, 
far  from  the  old  homestead  in  Holland,  “  across 
the  deep  blue  sea.” 

There  were  big  trees  to  fell  and  cut  up  and 
burn;  ground  to  plow,  houses  to  build,  and  many 
other  things  to  do,  to  make  a  home.  But  they 
were  workers, — real  good  home-makers,  so  they 
got  along  quite  well. 

Herein  “  the  Cove  ”  was  born  to  them  a  boy 
and  they  named  him  Jacob.  This  boy  was 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  was  taught  to  work,  and, 
like  a  wise  man,  in  due  time,  loved  Jesus,  gave  his 
heart  to  Him,  and  when  he  got  a  house  of  his 
own,  opened  it  to  the  preachers  to  preach  Jesus. 
He  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Henry  Butter- 
baugh,  of  Hagerstown,  Maryland.  She  died  Oct. 
12,  1852,  full  of  hope  in  Jesus.  She  was  the 
mother  of  our  Uncle  John  Metzger,  who  was  born 
in  the  Cove,  Blair  County,  Pa.,  Dec.  20,  1807,  or 
about  ninety-nine  years  after  a  few  pious  men 
and  women,  with  prayer  and  holy  feelings, 
agreed,  in  Schwarzenau,  Germany,  to  love  and 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


I  3 

obey  Jesus,  as  made  known  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment. 

Some  of  these  good  people  had  come  to  Amer¬ 
ica,  settled  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  and  from 
there  sounded  out  the  Gospel  westward  and 
southward.  It  had  reached  Jacob  Metzger’s 
house  before  his  son,  John,  was  born. 

In  1812  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  took  place,  and,  though  John  was 
only  five  years  old,  he  did  not  forget,  in  old  age, 
that  his  parents  were  very  much  scared,  on  hear¬ 
ing  the  roar  of  the  cannon,  far  distant  at  Wash¬ 
ington. 

o 

W  hen  quite  young,  a  wedding  took  place  at  his 
father’s  house;  for  his  parents’  home  was  open  for 
religious  meetings  and  the  worship  of  God.  As 

WEDDING  CEREMONIES 

then  were  very  different  from  those  now,  some 
description  of  the  old-time  method  is  here  given. 

Everything  being  ready,  the  people  came  into 
the  large  room  to  witness  the  marriage.  The 
preacher’s  name  was  Conrad  Martin,  an  old  man, 
having;  long  white  hair  and  beard,  and  a  face 

o  o 

which  showed  a  warm  heart  of  love  with  good¬ 
ness  to  all.  Two  verses  of  a  German  hymn  were 
sung;  the  third  chapter  of  the  first  epistle  of 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


II 


Peter  was  read;  and  about  thirty  minutes  given  to 
prayer  and  talk  to  all  present.  Next  the  young 
couple  stood  up,  answered  some  questions,  made 
promises  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  each  other, 
and  were  then  pronounced  husband  and  wife. 
The  people  were  not  near  so  much  in  a  hurry 
then,  in  their  religious  work,  as  some  people  are 
now.  In  those  days  they  had  long  marriage  cer¬ 
emonies,  preached  long  sermons,  sang  long 
hymns,  made  long  prayers,  and  were  long  on 
nearly  everything  good.  Then  they  travelled 
from  place  to  place  on  foot,  or  on  ox-carts,  or  on 
horse-back,  and  went  about  their  work  without  so 
much  rushing  and  hurrying.  They  took  time  to 
pray,  to  sing,  and  to  exhort.  Now  people  are 
carried  about  by  steam  and  electricity,  on  bi¬ 
cycles  and  swift  horses,  hence  they  want  to  be 
married  quickly,  listen  to  short  sermons,  sing 
short  hymns  fast,  admire  short  prayers,  recite 
short  lessons,  follow  short  methods,  and,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case,  come  out  with  short  comfort, 
short  religion,  short  blessings,  short  life. 

Such  men  in  Uncle  John’s  boyhood  days  as 
David  Ulrich,  George  Brumbaugh,  John  Hoover 
were  held  in  high  esteem  for  their  works  of  love 
in  preaching  Jesus.  He  spoke  of  his  sincere  re¬ 
gard  for  these  and  other  good  men,  who  did  so 


12 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


much  to  shape  and  mould  his  life  in  the  Gospel. 
W  hile  little  has  come  down  to  us  as  to  the  good 
deeds  of  those  early  missionaries,  who  went 
through  valleys  and  over  mountains  and  into  des- 
ert  places  to  preach  the  Gospel  “  without  price 
and  without  money,”  yet  the  many  large  church¬ 
es  and  Sunday  schools,  all  over  the  United  States, 
west  of  New  York,  are  so  many  fruits  of  their 
early  planting.  Without  those  right  and  faithful 
beginnings  there  could  be  no  true  and  great  con- 
tinuings. 

“  Tis  heaven  alone  that  is  given  away, 

’Tis  only  God  may  be  had  for  the  asking.” 

\  ^  ,f|  !*  I  H  i  . 

When  John  was  twelve  years  old,  in  1819,  his 
parents  left  the  old  home  in  Pennsylvania  and,  in 
wagons,  moved  over  the  mountains  and 

OUT  THROUGH  OHIO 

to  where  the  u  National  Home  for  Soldiers,”  near 
Davton,  now  stands.  There  were  but  two  stores 
in  what  was  then  little  Davton.  One  was  owned 
by  Mr.  Philips,  the  other  by  Mr.  Akers. 

These  two  stores  with  a  few^  dwellings  were  the 
only  buildings  in  Dayton  nearly  eighty  years 
ago.  The  Brethren  or  “Dunkers”  had  no 
churchhouse  to  meet  in,  no  Sunday  school  foi 
old  and  young  to  learn  about  Jesus,  no  buggies  to 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


13 


ride  in,  no  railroad  cars  to  swiftly  carry  them 
over  the  country,  hence  nearly  all  walked  to  town 
and  to  church  services;  and  it  was  common  to 
walk  five  or  six  miles  to  meeting  and  return. 
Sometimes  the  old  people  would  ride  horseback. 

During  the  winter  months  there  were  religious 
services  nearly  every  week  in  a  simple  manner, 
very  much  as  meetings  are  now  held.  The  peo¬ 
ple  lived  plainly,  talked  plainly,  ate  plain  food, 
dressed  plainly  and  had 

SIMPLE,  EASY  CUSTOMS  AND  HABITS. 

In  this  way  they  met  and  worshipped  God. 
There  were  no  parties,  no  old  people  who  flocked 
by  themselves  in  a  room,  and  no  young  folk  who 
did  not  want  old  people  with  them,  in  another 
room.  All  were  as  one  together, — the  old  in  the 
zeal  and  energy  of  youth  and  the  young  in  the 
faith  and  wisdom  of  the  aged.  Those  were 
happy  days  because  all  people  were  common  and 
helpful  to  each  other. 

Soon  after  settling  in  Ohio,  Elders  Daniel  Gar¬ 
ber,  John  Elory,  John  Cline  and  John  Wine  came 
from  Virginia  hundreds  of  miles  on  horseback  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  in  the  wilderness  of 

Ohio. 

There  were  no  helpful  committees  then  to 


14 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


smooth  out  the  rough  places  for  them,  no  large 
and  wealthy  assemblies  to  clothe  and  purse  them, 
but  these 

SELF-SACRIFICING  MISSIONARIES 

met  the  poor  and  needy, — the  plain  people  with 
whom  they  were  not  ashamed  to  associate. 

When  these  and  other  Godly  men  came  into  a 

j 

place  the  glad  news  was  carried  about  by  chil¬ 
dren  from  house  to  house,  telling  people  when 
and  where  the  new  preachers  would  preach;  and 
so  long  as  these  preachers  staid,  the  people  would 
follow  them  from  place  to  place,  to  hear  them 
gladly.  Do  you  think  any  of  the  boys  and  girls 
then,  or  any  of  the  members  of  the  church,  got 
“convenient  headaches”  or  an  excusable  tire¬ 
someness  about  meeting-time?  Do  you  think 
they  felt  well  enough  to  work  in  the  field  or  shop 
all  day  and  then  suddenly  got  sick  about  meet¬ 
ing-time  and  got  just  as  quickly  well  as  soon  as 
meeting  was  over?  Uncle  John  says  he  never 
knew  of  such  homemade  (?)  diseases  in  those 
days.  They  are  of  recent  growth,  and  seem  to  be 
spreading  as  well  as  catching. 

July  31,  1828,  Uncle  John  was  married  flan- 
nah  Ulery,  in  Montgomery  County,  Ohio.  Soon 
after  this  they  both 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


15 


GAVE  THEIR  HEARTS  AND  LIVES 

to  Jesus  and  became  members  of  the  Brethren  or 
u  Dunker  ”  church.  Uncle  John  said  he  was  glad 
he  gave  himself  to  Jesus  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  but  would  be  happier  still  if  he  had  begun 
a  Christian  life  when  younger. 

What  a  brilliant  example  to  young  men  who 
are  yet  out  of  Christ,  —  out  of  His  kind  grace,  His 
wisdom,  His  loving  goodness!  As  you  read  this, 
do  not  fail  to  think  how  you  might  honor  God 
and  his  Christ  by  a  long  life,  given  to  Him  in 
praise  and  purity. 

After  spending  six  years  of  their  married  life 
near  Dayton,  they  made  up  their  minds  to  be 
among  the 

FIRST  SETTLERS  IN  INDIANA. 

As  pioneers  the  Metzgers  were  usually  foremost. 
Uncle  John’s  grandfather  was  among  the  first  sel¬ 
lers  in  Blair  County,  Pa.,  his  father  an  early  set¬ 
tler  in  Ohio,  and  now  himself  a  beginner  in  Tip¬ 
pecanoe  County,  Ind.,  not  far  from  where  Gener¬ 
al  Wm.  Henry  Harrison  conquered  the  Indians 
under  the  command  of  the  famous  chief,  Tecum- 
seh. 

They  got  to  their  new  house  in  1834.  Other 
members  of  the  church  also  made  their  homes  in 


i6 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


the  same  place.  A  church  was  soon  built  up, 
and  in  1835  L'ncle  John  was  chosen  to  the  minis¬ 
try,  having  been  elected  a  deacon  the  year  be¬ 
fore.  The  gifts  given  him  by  the  Lord  were  at 
once  used. 

HE  STUDIED  THE  BIBLE 

to  learn  of  Jesus;  therefore  he  preached  Jesus, 
lived  Jesus,  and  won  souls  for  Jesus,  died  in  Je¬ 
sus.  The  calls  were  at  once  many  and  urgent; 
for  in  many  parts  of  Central  and  Northern  Indi¬ 
ana  new  settlers  came  in  and  were  calling  for 
Gospel  manna.  The  old-time  religion  was  in  de¬ 
mand.  There  was  no  need  for  this  young  preach¬ 
er  to  rust  or  to  regard  home  duties  superior  to 
mission  work.  He  did  his  “  home  work  ”  well, 
trusted  God  for  the  all-things  and  “went  every¬ 
where  preaching  the  W  ord.”  He  would  not  hide 
his  “pound,”  but  did  his  best  to  increase  it  “ten 
pounds.”  Do  you  not  think  he  did? 

The  country  was  marshy,  the  roads  were  rude 

and  manv  were  the 
* 

HARD  PLACES 

to  eet  over.  There  were  funerals  to  attend,  mar- 
riages  to  perform,  sick  to  visit,  councils  to  at¬ 
tend,  unruly  members  to  disentangle,  sinners  to 
seek  and  teach, — many  were  the  duties  of  the 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


17 


pioneer  preacher  which  were  met  at  his  expense. 
But  you  must  remember  there  were  fewer  peo¬ 
ple  then  than  now,  hence  fewer  meetings  were 
held,  fewer  sermons  preached,  so  that  much  time 
was  spent  on  the  farm. 

People  who  were  married  by  him  would  insist 
on  him  taking  money  for  his  services.  He  al¬ 
ways  took  it  from  the  groom,  but  with  a  great, 
warm  heart  in  him  he  could  not  keep  it,  for  he 
knew  that  in  many  cases  the  young  married 
couple  needed  money  to  begin  life  with,  hence, 
when  the  time  came  to  say  good-bye  to  the  new¬ 
ly-married  pair,  he  kindly  put  the  money  into 
the  hand  of  the  bride,  with  a  blessing.  As  long 
as  he  lived  he  kept  up  this  custom.  Surely  God 
was  with  him  to  the  end! 

In  White  County,  Indiana,  he  preached 

HIS  FIRST  SERMON 

in  a  saw-mill.  He  had  six  hearers.  It  is  said 
that  the  noise  of  the  waters  almost  hushed  his 
voice.  But  he  kept  on  preaching,  and,  in  due 
time,  he  had  the  joy  of  seeing  souls  won  to  Je¬ 
sus,  and  a  church  organized.  There  were  eight 
sisters  and  two  brethren. 

Oyman  and  Patton  became  their  pastors. 
They  were  fluent  talkers,  hence  soon  had  a  large 


i8 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


circle  of  friends  and  hearers.  However,  their 
brilliancy  led  them  out  beyond  the  spirit  and 
genius  of  those  with  whom  they  had  agreed  to 
walk,  and,  instead  of  “  peace,”’  there  was  jarring 
and  confusion.  They  set  up  a  “new  order  ”  of 
things  and  called  it  “reformation,”  or  old  things 
made  new  or  better.  This  ended  in  failure  and 
the  scattering  of  the  flock.  This  grieved  Uncle 
John  very  much,  because  he  always  used  his 
voice  for  peace  in  Jesus  and  not  for  discord.  His 
plea  was  always  for  union  on  sound  words,  even 
the  words  of  Jesus,  among  families,  among  neigh¬ 
bors,  in  churches  and  among  the  people. 

No  man,  dear  youth,  can  be  in  Jesus,  assume 
high,  Gospel  ground  and  hold  forth  a  life  of 
purity  without  becoming  a  “  shining  mark  ”  for 
“  the  fiery  darts  of  Satan — the  object  of  slander^ 
hatred,  envy  and  every  evil  thought.”  Eld. 
Metzger  had  his  full  share  of  trials  and 

“  PERILS  AMONG  FALSE  BRETHREN.” 

He  not  only  met  the  raging  creeks  and  rivers, 
the  cold  wintry  storms  and  summer  heat,  but 
the  “  gainsayers  ”  who  opposed  themselves  by 
false  doctrines,  and  the  ugly,  envious  spirits  who 
were  less  loved  than  himself  You  may  expect 


A  MODEL  LIFE.  IQ 

the  same  if  you  live  up  through  manhood  and 
womanhood. 

The  more  you  are  loved  by  Jesus  and  the  good 
men  and  women  in  this  world,  the  more  you  will 

7  J 

be  hated  by  Satan  and  the  mean,  ugly,  twisty, 
envious  spirits  who  watch  your  every  step  to 
catch  something  that  they  might  make  you  ap¬ 
pear  black.  Such  people  will  try  to  make 
straight  appear  crooked,  and  white,  black. 
Trust.  God,  as  did  Uncle  John,  and  not  a  hair  of 
your  head  shall  be  harmed. 

One  time  Uncle  John  preached  and  many 
hearts  were  touched,  and  a  man  and  his  wife 
were  turned  unto  the  Lord.  This  aroused  the 
anger  of  their  brother-in-law,  so  he  breathed  out 

HARD  THREATS 

against  the  man  who  would  baptize  them.  Aft¬ 
er  some  consultation  by  the  members  of  the 
church,  it  was  agreed  that  Uncle  John  should 
immerse  the  penitent  believers,  hence  all  parties 
went  to  a  stream  of  water  near  by, — the  preach¬ 
er  and  penitent  believers  and  all  lovers  of  Jesus, 
with  joy  and  gladness  in  their  hearts,  and  the 
angry  brother-in-law,  with  boasting  in  his  soul. 
At  the  waterside  a  hymn  was  sung,  Scripture 
read,  prayer  offered  just  as  if  there  was  no  wrath 


20 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


near;  then  Uncle  John  took  off  his  shoes  and 
coat,  in  order  to  go  into  the  water  to  baptize 
the  man  and  his  wife.  The  angry  man  also  took 
off  his  coat,  turned  up  his  shirt  sleeves  as  if  he, 
too,  would  do  some  great  work.  Uncle  John 
gave  no  heed  to  this  kind  of  show,  but  took  the 
man  into  the  water  and  baptized  him.  The  an¬ 
gry  man  stood  on  the  shore  and  looked  on,  just 
like  the  other  people. 

Next  the  wife  was  immersed.  The  angry  fel¬ 
low  still  looked  on.  Uncle  John  came  up  out 
of  the  water,  put  on  his  shoes  and  coat.  The 
angry  man  put  on  his  coat  too,  and  then  every 
one  went  to  his  home;  and  the  preacher  was  not 
disturbed  either. 

GOD  TOOK  CARE  OF  HIS  SERVANT, 

Uncle  John  Metzger! 

A  short  time  afterwards  Uncle  John  had  oc¬ 
casion  to  visit  a  neighbor,  so  he  started  on  horse¬ 
back,  and  his  way  led  through  a  long,  narrow 
lane  with  a  high  rail-fence  on  either  side.  As 
he  entered  the  lane  he  saw  a  man  on  horseback 
come  in  at  the  other  end,  and,  as  they  came 
toward  each  other,  Uncle  John  saw  that  it  was 
the  man  who  had  threatened  to  whip  him  at  the 
baptismal  scene.  He  made  up  his  mind  that 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


21 


now,  if  the  man  was  sincere,  he  would  surely 
fall  upon  him  and  carry  out  the  threat,  but  the 
preacher  resolved  to  use  kindness,  as  it  usually 
wins,  so,  when  the  man  came  up,  Uncle  John 
said:  “Good  morning,  sir.  Are  you  well?” 
The  man  turned  his  horse  into  a  fence  corner  and 
looked  another  way.  “How  is  your  family?’’ 
said  the  preacher,  “  are  you  all  getting  along 
nicely?  ”  By  this  time  the  “  fighter’s  ”  heart 
failed  him,  and  he  turned  about  and  spoke  a  few 
kind  words  in  reply;  then  rode  on.  The  preach¬ 
er  was  victorious  through  the  power  of  God’s 
grace  and  kindness.  This  is  another  infallible 
proof  that  love  and  goodness  and  kindness  are 
stronger  than  wrath,  and  muscle,  and  evil  works. 

Once  there  were  seven  applicants  for  Chris¬ 
tian  fellowship.  Among  them  was  a  woman 
whose  husband  was  bitterly  opposed  to  his  wife 
becoming  a  disciple  of  Jesus.  Uncle  John  went 
to  see  him  and  reasoned  with  him  on  the  good 
way  of  the  Lord. 

THE  MAN  WOULD  NOT  YIELD 

but  became  very  angry,  declaring  that  his  wife 
should  never  be  immersed.  His  wife,  however, 
determined  to  do  as  her  Savior  did,  and  was 
baptized  with  the  others.  Shortly  afterwards 


22 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


her  husband  wrote  Uncle  John  a  very  unkind 

letter  and  invited  him  to  come  to  his  house. 

Uncle  John  sent  him  a  very  kind  letter  in  reply, 

and  some  davs  after  went  to  visit  him.  He 

* 

found  the  man  sullen  and  very  slow  to  speak; 
so  he  began  by  asking  the  man  if  he  had  re¬ 
ceived  the  letter.  He  replied  that  he  had.  Un¬ 
cle  John  then  began  to  talk  to  him,  quoting  the 
Scriptures  and  showing  the  great  blessings  in 
store  for  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  and  his 
appearing.  Soon  the  anger  of  the  man  gave  way 
and  the  beams  of  light  began  to  shine  through 
his  smiles,  and  a  heavenly  calm  filled  his  mind. 
In  two  weeks  from  that  time  the  man  was  also 
baptized.  One  more  witness  of  the  power  of 
loving-kindness  over  anger.  Another  victory  for 
Jesus! 

In  the  early  history  of  the  States  of  Indiana 
and  Illinois,  the  members  of  the  church  lived 
far  apart,  therefore  the  appointments  were  not 
near  each  other.  This  caused 

MUCH  TRAVELING, 

and  when  the  creeks  and  rivers  were  running 
over  their  banks  and  filling  the  low  lands  with 
water,  it  required  no  small  degree  of  courage  to 
brave  the  dangers  and  do  the  work;  but  Uncie 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


23 


John  had  strong  faith  in  God,  and  would  go  to 
his  fields  of  labor,  though  he  had  to  swim  the 
streams  with  his  horse,  or  ride  through  deep 
water  in  the  marshes. 

When  the  railroads  were  built,  matters  did  not 
improve  much  for  him,  for  he  lived  twelve  miles 
from  the  railroad  station,  and  often  would  leave 
the  depot  at  8  P.  M.,  and  walk  from  ten  to  twelve 
miles  in  water  and  mud,  sometimes  wading 
streams  up  to  his  shoulders.  That  was  enduring 
unto  faithfulness,  worthy  the  following  of  any 
one  who  loves  the  Lord  above  all  else.  In  those 
days  our  brother  was  poor,  and  walking  was  his 
only  means  of  getting  about. 

He  preached  many 

SERMONS  ON  THE  TIPPECANOE  BATTLE-FIELD 

where  Gen.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison  defeated  the 
Indians  in  1812.  Several  years  ago,  when  Ben¬ 
jamin  Harrison  was  President  of  the  United 
States,  Uncle  John  went  to  see  him,  while  in 
Washington.  During  the  talk  with  the  President, 
he  told  him  that  he  had  often  preached  on  the 
Tippecanoe  battle-ground  where  the  President’s 
grandfather  had  routed  the  red  men.  The  Presi¬ 
dent  seemed  pleased  and  said  he  was  very  glad 
that  Uncle  John  had  called  to  see  him. 


34 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


Of  course  just  as  Uncle  John  was  busy  about 
his  Master's  business,  so  Satan  was  busy  in  his 
devices  and  tricks  to  defeat  the  servant  of  the 
Lord. 

Once,  at  the  close  of  a  warm  and  earnest  ser¬ 
mon,  a  woman  was  very  anxious  to  take  up  the 
call  of  the  Lord  and  join  the  church;  but  her 
husband  said  she  should  not.  Her  troubled  soul 
found 

NO  REST  OUTSIDE  OF  JESUS, 

so  she  heeded  the  Lord’s  call:  “Come  unto  me 
all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest.”  She  went  to  church-meeting  and 
was  there  immersed  and  put  on  Jesus,  being  re¬ 
ceived  into  fellowship  with  great  gladness.  On 
her  return  home  her  husband  met  her  at  the  gate 
and  bade  her  go  on,  saying,  “  You  cannot  stop 
here.  Move  on!  ”  O  what  pain  to  hear  a  hus¬ 
band  say:  “You  cannot  come  in  here  any  more! 
Go  on.”  But  the  patient  wife  heeded  not  his 
angry  words,  but,  getting  down  from  her  horse, 
tied  him  and  went  into  the  house.  Think  of  her 
sorrowful  heart  for  her  husband!  She  had  free¬ 
dom  in  Christ,  but  her  soul  was  full  of  feeling 
for  her  companion.  For  two  weeks  the  angry 
husband  poured  out  abuse  upon  his  wife,  and  all 
that  time  she  bore  it  with  great  patience.  Seeing 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


25 


that  he  could  not  move  her  from  her  holy  pur¬ 
pose,  he  halted,  and,  seeing  the  noble  way  of 
God,  he  also  was  converted.  Like  the  penitent 
child,  seeking  relief,  he  found  peace  with  his 
Father  in  heaven.  What  a  lesson  on  patient  en¬ 
durance! 

/  * 

In  1849  Uncle  John  and  his  family  took  up 
their  residence  in  Clinton  County,  Ind.,  and  his 
sphere  of  work  was  greatly  enlarged,  having 
been  ordained  to  the  bishoprick  in  1843.  With 
these  new  duties,  new  trials  and  severities  opened 
up  to  him,  but  with  all  these  came  new  grace,  and 
it  “  more  abundantly.” 

One  time,  during  the  winter,  he  preached  with 
his  usual  vigor  and  warmth,  as  many  of  our  read¬ 
ers  will  remember  his  great  earnestness.  After 
services  a  kind  brother  and  sister  took  him  to 
their  pleasant  home  and  gave  him 

“ A  COLD  BED  ” 

to  sleep  in.  No  doubt  the  covers  were  neat, 
the  bed  arranged  very  nicely,  and  all  things  tidy, 
but  everything  was  very  cold.  The  preacher 
was  very  warm, — had  labored  until  he  perspired 
freely,  so  he  coidd  not  get  much  comfort  out  of 
a  cold,  cold  bed.  God  had  done  his  part  well, 
had  made  trees  grow  that  could  be  used  to  warm 


26 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


houses,  had  given  man  power  to  make  brick  or 
cut  out  soap-stone  and  warm  them  and  put  them 
into  cold  beds,  to  chase  the  cold  out;  but  those 
dear,  kind,  people  did  not  likely  think  about 
this.  Uncle  John  tried  to  sleep,  but  could  not. 
He  went  to  bed  warm,  but  was  not  warm  enough 
to  heat  up  a  cold  bed.  He  got  up,  dressed  him¬ 
self,  went  out  on  the  road  and  ran  up  and  down 
on  it  in  the  snow,  until  he  got  himself  warm 
again.  Then  he  went  back  into  the  cold  nest, 
but  no  sweet  sleep  came  to  him.  There  were  no 
“  downy  pillows  ”  and  fine  parlors  for  him  that 
night. 

Having  a  heart  full  of  love  for  Christ  and  man¬ 
kind,  he  could  not  narrow  himself  in  any  good 
thing  or  work,  nor  place  his  earthly  affairs  above 
those  of  his  Master.  He,  therefore,  made  up 
his  mind  that  when  he  would  build  a  house  to 
live  in,  he  would  also  set  aside  a  room  in  which 
people  might  gather  and  hear  the  good  old  story 
of  Jesus.  In  those  days  there  were  no  planing- 
mills,  no  shingle  factories  and  other  handy  mills 
to  make  straight  and  smooth  boards,  so  as  to 
build  neat  houses  quickly.  Like  his  neighbors, 
Uncle  John  went  into  the  woods,  cut  down  trees, 
fitted  the  “  logs,”  gathered  them  together  and 
built  him  a  house.  It  was  25  by  40  feet  and  had 
porches  added.  He  had  to  go  some  distance 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


27 


THROUGH  SNOW  AND  COLD 

for  those  80  logs.  When  the  logs  were  ready 
to  be  joined  together  he  went  more  than  100 
miles  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  for  some  needful  hard¬ 
ware.  On  his  way  home  the  melted  snows  and 
much  rain  had  made  the  creeks  and  rivers  so 
deep  that  he  could  not  cross  them  with  his 
wagon,  so  he  left  his  wagon  on  the  way  and  went 
home  on  horseback,  swimming  the  streams 
through  floating  ice  and  cold,  chilly  waters. 
Then,  when  the  waters  got  low,  he  went  back  for 
his  wagon.  When  the  house  was  ready  to  live 
in,  he  set  a  time  for  preaching.  The  people 
came  from  far.  and  near,  and  the  room  set  apart 
for  Jesus,  and  the  porches,  were  filled  with  men, 
women  and  children,  to  hear  the  “  good  news  ”  of 
heaven  and  happiness. 

In  a  new  country  like  that  in  which  he  lived 
there  were 

MANY  INDIANS. 

Often  Uncle  John  traveled  along  Indian  paths 
and  came  to  the  Indian  villages,  but,  like  Wm. 
Penn,  he  always  acted  kindly  toward  them,  and 
then  they  were  kind  to  him.  If  Indians,  who 
knew  not  Jesus,  could  be  great  by  being  kind, 
how  much  greater  should  those  in  Christ  be 
who  know  so  much  about  the  kindness  of  Jesus? 


28 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


To  be  harsh  and  severe  to  each  other  is  not  of 
Christ. 

Uncle  John  had  five  dear  children.  The 
youngest  died  when  a  babe.  One,  Barbara 
Shively,  went  “  home  ”  in  1895.  John  W.,  a  min¬ 
ister  of  Jesus,  and  Mary  Shively  live  in  Lords- 
burg,  Cal.,,  Catherine  Shively  lives  in  Cerrogordo, 
Ill. 

Wh  ile  living  in  Indiana,  and  when  John  W. 
and  Mary  were  yet  quite  young,  he  and  these 
two  children  were 

BITTEN  BY  A  MAD  DOG. 

Knowing  that  this  might  result  in  an  awful  death, 
he  took  them  in  a  wagon  through  the  thick 
woods,  over  one  hundred  miles  to  a  doctor  at 
Dayton,  Ohio.  O  think  of  that  father’s  and 
mother’s  feelings  in  all  that  time,  as  they  rode 
through  those  lonely  woods!  Only  Jesus  in  the 
soul,  the  hope  of  glory,  could  give  comfort.  Full 
of  faith  and  trust  they  went  on  and  on,  and,  after 
several  days,  reached  the  doctor’s  home,  were 
treated  successfully  and  then  went  back  the  same 
way.  The  good  Lord  helped  them  all  out  of 
this  great  danger,  and  Uncle  John  was  more  than 
ever  in  earnest,  in  preaching  the  glad  tidings  of 
a  glorified  Jesus  for  sinners. 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


29 


In  1861  he  left  his  home  in  Clinton  County, 
Inch,  and  began  a  new  one  near  Cerrogordo,  Ill., 
to  do  his  part  in  building  up  a  new  country. 
Here  Jesus  should  also  be  preached.  Uncle  John 
was  at  hand  for  the  good  work  with  others. 

The  great  and  exciting  political  campaign  was 
over,  and  the  time  was  near  at  hand  for 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

to  go  to  Washington  City  to  rule  the  nation. 
The  tones  of  coming  war  could  be  heard  in  many 
places.  About  two  weeks  before  the  time  for 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  start  to  Washington,  Uncle  John 
and  his  son-in-lav/,  Eld.  Joseph  Hendricks, 
were  in  Springfield,  Ill.  Some  one  said:  “Let 
us  go  up  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  will  soon  leave 
home  and  we  ought  to  visit  him.”  At  once  they 
started  for  the  Lincoln  home.  Knocking  at  a 
door  a  servant  opened  it  and  invited  them  in. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  upstairs  and,  on  being  told  that 
two  old  men  wanted  to  see  him,  he  came  down 
and  warmly  shook  their  hands  and  welcomed 
them.  Seeing  that  they  were  dressed  in  “  Ouak- 
ker  ”  fashion,  he  asked  their  profession  and  was 
told  that  they  were  members  of  the  Brethren 
or  “  Dunker  ”  church.  “  O,  yes,”  said  he,  “  I 
have  some  knowledge  of  the  ‘  Bunkers. ’  Am 
quite  glad  to  see  you.” 


30 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


Uncle  John  said:  “  I  have  been  on  the  farm 
you  helped  to  make,  and  where  you  split  rails 
when  you  were  a  young  man.”  “Well,”  replied 
Mr.  Lincoln,  “  I  did  not  do  very  much  farming. 
I  drove  the  oxen  and  helped  to  clear  ten  acres 
the  first  year  and  made  some  rails,  and  the 
second  year  we  cleared  ten  more  acres  and  made 
rails.  That  is  about  all  the  farming  I  ever  did. 
I  went  to  studying  law  after  that.” 

“Do  you  not,”  asked  Uncle  John,  “think  it 
very  unsafe  to  go  to  Washington  now?  ” 

“Yes,  I  do,”  replied  Lincoln,  “but  I  shall  go, 
and  if  I  arrive  safely  I  will  do  my  whole  duty 
to  all  the  people.  I  shall  know  no  North,  no 
South,  no  East,  no  West,  but  one  country  and 
all  the  people.” 

As  they  were  about  to  leave,  Mr.  Lincoln  asked 
them  with  much  warmth  of  feeling  and  tears  in 
his  eyes,  that  they  should  pray  for  him  and 
the.  country.  Uncle  John  answered:  “We  al¬ 
ways  pray  for  rulers  that  God  might  bless  them 
and  give  all  men  good  government.” 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  he  wished  God  to  bless 
them  and  him,  for  he  knew  he  could  do  nothing 
well  except  God  should  be  with  him. 

You  must  not  forget,  dear  children,  that  at  that 
time  there  was 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


31 


GREAT  TROUBLE. 

The  South  and  the  North  were  about  to  go  to 
war  on  account  of  slavery,  because  in  the  South¬ 
ern  States  negroes  were  sold  and  bought  just  as 
men  sell  and  buy  cattle  and  horses  now,  and 
the  Northern  States  were  opposed  to  this,  so 
the  bad  feeling  led  to  hard  words,  and  hard 
words  to  loss  of  love,  and  loss  of  love  led  to 
war,  bloodshed  and  great  ruin  in  many  places. 
The  people  of  the  South  thought  Lincoln  would 
set  their  slaves  free,  hence  they  went  to  war. 
He  had  no  power  then  to  do  that  and  would 
not  have  done  it,  if  they  had  not  set  up  war.  But 
after  the  war  had  gone  on  a  few  years  he  did 
set  the  slaves  free.  No  doubt  God  sc  willed  it 
to  be,  for  God  is  supreme  and  rules  the  nations 
as  he  pleases. 

And  now,  for  a  little  while,  let  us  hear  Uncle 
John  tell  us  cf  his  labors  and  joys  in  the  Lord, 
in  his  own  way,  from  a  letter  before  me. 

“  On  arriving  in  Illinois,  I  found 

A  LARGE  FIELD 

for  doing  good,  since  members  of  the  church 
had  begun  to  settle  in  various  parts  of  the  State 
and  they  called  for  preaching,  and  the  faith  and 
practice  of  the  Brethren  were  little  known.  I 


32 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


wanted  to  do  all  I  could  for  Jesus  and  the  church. 
Wife  and  I  went  in  private  conveyance  from 
Cerrogordo,  Ill.,  to  Lafayette,  Ind.,  frequently, 
and  I  preached  in  every  town  and  schoolhouse 
between  those  places,  and  sometimes  in  ware¬ 
houses. 

“  Before  starting  I  sent  word  that  I  would  be 
at  certain  places  on  certain  dates  and  when  we 
arrived  the  appointments  had  been  made,  and 
people  came  to  hear  the  Word  of  God.  I  be¬ 
came  well  known  all  along  the  Wabash  Railway. 
Gnce,  in  traveling  along  this  line,  I  preached 
the  funeral  sermon  of  a  Baptist  lady,  and  after¬ 
wards  her  husband  was  by  me  received  into  the 
church.  Sometimes  we  would  be  out  three 
months  on  such  a  journey  and  then  I  was  preach¬ 
ing  almost  every  night. 

“  We  went  as  far  as  Dayton,  Ohio,  with  a  team. 
At  this  place  I  saw  McAfee  hung,  standing  near 
him  at  the  time.  It  was 

AN  AWFUL  SIGHT. 

O  that  man  would  always  love  his  God,  do  good 
and  not  evil,  then  all  would  be  happy.  At  an¬ 
other  time,  while  stopping  at  Crawfordsville, 
Ind.,  a  man  was  hung  and  twice  the  rope  broke 
and  let  him  fall  to  the  ground  before  they  sue- 


A  MODEL  LIFE.  33 

ceeded  in  taking  his  life.  These  were  fearful 
examples  of  reaping  what  was  sown. 

“  I  heard  Lorenzo  Dow  preach  once  in  Day- 
ton,  and  once  in  Liberty,  Ohio.  Lorenzo  was 
a  minister  in  the  M.  E.  church  and  was  called 
a  great  missionary  in  his  way  and  day.  He  was 
the  most  singular  man  I  ever  saw.  He  wore 
long  hair  down  over  his  shoulders,  and  parted 
it  on  the  top  of  his  head.  Peggy,  his  wife, 
dressed  plainly  also,  and  wore  a  white  cap  on 
her  head  like  the  sisters  now  do  in  the  Brethren 
church.  Lorenzo  Dow  advised  young  people 
to  4  get  religion  ’  or,  rather,  let  Christ’s  religion 
get  them,  saying  that  if  they  love  God  they 
will  surely  love  each  other,  hence  could  always 
have  a  paradise  at  home.  He  said  that  about 
the  first  two  things  that  some  parents  taught 
their  children  was  to  lie  and  to  be  deceitful. 
Perhaps  the  mother  is  going  out  to  a  party  and 
her  children  want  to  go,  too,  and  even  cry  to  go 
along,  but,  as  the  children  would  be  in  the  way 
of  a  fashionable  party,  she  first  scolds  them  to 
stay  at  home,  but  the  children  will  not  be  quiet. 
Next  she  promises  them  candy  or  ‘pretties,’ 
and  when  mother  comes  back  she  brings  neither 
candy  nor  ‘  pretties,’  and  now  the  children  have 
lost  confidence  in  mother  and  cry.  Mother  says: 


34 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


‘  If  you  don’t  hush  I  will  whip  you,’  but  the  chil¬ 
dren  cry  on  and  the  mother  no  more  whips  than 
she  brought  ‘  pretties,’  so  a  lie  is  added  to  the 
deception  and  the  children  think  if  mother  can 
lie  and  deceive  they  can  lie  and  deceive  too. 
This  soon  makes  a  house  of  liars  instead  of  a 
home  of  truth-tellers. 

“  For  twenty  years  I  put  in  much  of  my  time 

TRAVELING  AND  PREACHING, 

seeking  new  fields  to  work  in,  visiting  the  poor 
souls  in  jails  and  other  prisons  and  talking  kindly 
to  them.  I  remember  a  visit  to  the  jail  at  Marys¬ 
ville,  Mo.,  in  1894.  .  Here  I  saw  a  boy  only  elev¬ 
en  years  old.  Poor  boy!  Somewhere  and  some¬ 
how  he  did  a  wrong  and  got  on  the  road  that 
leads  to  prison.  Perhaps  he  had  a  bad  father  or 
a  bad  mother  and  so  was  not  to  blame  for  being 
bad  himself.  Likely  that  little  boy  was  away 
from  school  or  told  a  lie  to  begin  with,  or  tried  to 
deceive  some  one.  Perhaps  he  could  say,  ‘  I  nev¬ 
er  had  anybody  to  tell  me  how  to  be  good;  I 
never  was  properly  brought  up;  no  one  ever 
cared  for  me.  I  should  like  to  be  like  good 
boys,  but  nobody  ever  showed  me  how.’ 

“At  another  place  I  saw  a  little  boy  in  jail  for 
saying  he  would  kill  his  mother.  Ah!  this  little 

bov  laid 

✓ 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


35 


A  POOR  FOUNDATION. 

However  good  you  build  the  walls  of  a  house,  if 
you  set  the  building  on  a  sandy  foundation  the 
walls  will  soon  crack,  and  then  some  one  will  say: 
'There  is  a  crack;  the  foundation  is  poor.’  So, 
no  matter  if  a  boy  or  girl  be  given  strong,  health¬ 
ful  bodies,  there  will  be  broken  places  in  their 
lives  if  the  foundation, — moral,  good,  Divine 
principle, — is  not  sound  and  sure.  Well  may 
such  poor  souls,  after  living  long  in  sin,  when 
they  come  to  die,  say:  ‘  Gather  up  my  bad  deeds 
and  bury  them.’  But,  dear  children,  as  well 
might  you  try  to  tie  the  winds,  Qr  chain  the 
waves  of  the  deep,  or  make  a  wall  against  a  sand¬ 
storm,  as  to  gather  together  the  bad  influences  of 
a  life  in  ruin  and  misery.  Only  the  love  of  Jesus 
can  make  all  the  crooked  paths  straight.  Only 
the  blood  of  Jesus  can  wash  away  the  sin-stains. 

“When  I  see  these  poor  erring  creatures  in 
prisons  and  hear  men  and  women  try  to  make 
better  people  out  of  them,  I  do  not  think  any  one 
should  complain  on  account  of  having  taxes  to 
pay. 

“Two  men  charged  with  murder  were  put  in 
jail.  They  sent  word  for  me  to  call  at  the  prison 
to  see  them.  I  went.  We  conversed  long  about 
Jesus  and  his  power  to  save.  They  both  listened, 


36 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


and  read  the  Bible.  They  soon  learned  that 
where  they  had  been,  Jesus  was  not;  so  the  only 
thing  for  them  to  do  was  to  go  to  Jesus.  They 
therefore  believed  the  Gospel,  received  it  and  I 
then  baptized  them.  Both  were  afterwards 
cleared  of  the  charge  of  murder  by  the  law. 

“  Hearing  that  there  were  some  members  living 

IN  DOUGLASS  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS, 

I  got  the  name  of  one  of  them,  wrote  him  a  letter 
and  informed  him  that  I  would  visit  them,  and, 
if  a  door  would  be  opened,  I  would  preach  to 
them.  Thev  answered  that  I  should  come  to 
them,  and  I  went.  The  first  night  the  meeting 
was  in  a  schoolhouse  and  the  next  evening  in  the 
Methodist  church.  I  was  a  stranger,  but  word 
went  out  that  a  4  Dunker  ’  was  there,  so  people 
turned  out  through  curiosity.  One  man  said  he 
had  never  before  seen  a  ‘  Dunker,’  so  he  had 
come  to  see  what  kind  of  a  creature  I  was.  He 
said  to  me  afterwards:  4  I  was  born  on  the  ocean, 
educated  on  the  sea,  and  taught  to  be  a  Roman 
Catholic.  I  at  last  tired  of  the  sea,  and  quit,  and 
came  to  America.  Your  preaching  was  all  new 
to  me;  but  some  things  you  said  I  never  could 
get  over.’  He  finally  came  to  Cerro  Gordo  and  I 
baptized  him.  I  also  immersed  into  Christ  five 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


37 


other  Catholics,  one  railroad  man  and  his  wife, 
and  preached  the  funeral  of  a  railroad  conductor. 

“  I  also  visited  the  State  School  at  Terre  Haute 
where  700  pupils  were  in  attendance,  and  also 
many  other  institutions  of  learning. 

“  Wherever  I  went  I  told  the  people  I  was 
ready  to  preach  to  them,  and  they  soon  found  a 
place  of  worship.  I  found  it  much  more  success¬ 
ful  to  go  out  and  hunt  open  doors  than  to  sit 
down  and  wait  until  some  one  would  call.  Jesus 
says:  ‘Go,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea¬ 
ture.’ 

“  Five  times  I  visited  and  preached 

IN  PHILADELPHIA, 

and  learned  to  know  old  Brother  Fox,  who  knew 
Alexander  Mack.  I  spoke  in  the  Germantown 
meetinghouse, — the  first  house  built  by  our  peo¬ 
ple  in  America.  When  standing  by  the  grave  of 
Bro.  Mack  I  was  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense 
of  his  work  in  this  country  and  how  he  had  toiled 
and  labored  for  the  Lord  and  his  people.  Then 
I  went  to  the  old  elm-tree  where  William  Penn 
made  a  treaty  with  the  Indians,  who  never  broke 
that  agreement.  It  seems  to  me  those  were  great 
seasons  of  good;  for  God  blessed  the  peaceful  ef¬ 
forts  to  the  good  of  all, 


38 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


“While  in  Baltimore,  looking  after  some  rela¬ 
tives,  I  met  some  of  my  relatives  that  I  never 
knew  before,  and  the  pleasant  associations  were 
always  remembered  by  me.  The  fourth  time  I 
visited  Washington  City,  my  wife  was  with  me, 
and  we  went  to  the  top  of  Washington  Monu¬ 
ment,  in  an  elevator.  It  took  twenty  minutes  to 
go  up  666  feet  and  twenty  to  come  down,  and  we 
had  twenty  minutes  to  stay  on  the  top,  and  look 
out  over  the  country,  city  and  river. 

“  I  have  been 

IN  TWENTY  DIFFERENT  STATES, 

and  in  all  the  principal  cities  between  the  Atlant¬ 
ic  and  Pacific  Oceans  and  preached  in  nearly  all 
of  them. 

“  Some  years  ago  my  daughter,  Mary,  and  I, 
were  sent  to  Texas  to  spy  out  the  land.  Others 
had  gone  on  before  and  reported  well  of  the  Pan¬ 
handle  country  and  some  members  had  moved 
there.  I  could  not  see  the  bright  prospects  there 
for  the  future,  as  some  others  seemed  to  see,  and 
I  so  reported. 

“About  twenty  years  ago  I  learned  that  there 
were  some  Brethren  north  of  Paris,  111.,  but  I 
failed  to  get  their  names.  Finally  I  got  the 
name  of  a  brother  and  wrote  him  I  would  be 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


39 


there  at  a  certain  time,  and  if  they  wanted 
preaching  I  would  do  what  I  could.  I  went,  and 
the  first  meeting  was  in  the  Methodist  church, 
and  as  our  Brethren  had  never  before  been  heard 
there,  the  news  spread  quickly,  and 

LARGE  NUMBERS  OF  PEOPLE 

came  together.  An  old  man  and  his  wife,  who 
attended  the  first  meetings,  became  so  interested, 
they  followed  me  about  to  all  the  other  meetings. 
The  people  south  of  this  place,  on  the  Indianapo¬ 
lis  and  St.  Louis  Railway,  heard  that  a  ‘  Dunker  ’ 
was  preaching  eight  or  ten  miles  north,  so  they 
sent  me  word  to  come  to  their  place.  I  went  and 
held  meetings  in  the  Methodist  house  at  3  P.  M. 
The  house  and  yard  were  filled  with  attentive 
hearers,  and  we  had  a  good  meeting. 

“After  services  a  man  and  woman  came  up  and 
said:  ‘  We  want  another  meeting.’  I  left  an  ap¬ 
pointment  for  Tuesday  evening.  When  this 
meeting  was  over  a  man  came  to  me  and  said: 
‘I  was  here  when  you  came  in  last  Sunday  even¬ 
ing  and  saw  you  walk  up  the  aisle  and  upon  the 
platform.  I  thought  I  knew  where  you  be¬ 
longed,  but  after  hearing  you  preach,  I  could  not 
place  you.  This  evening  when  you  came  in  at 
the  door  I  saw  you  again  and  I  thought  I  knew 


40 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


where  you  belonged;  but  after  hearing  you 
preach,  I  could  not  place  you;  now  will  you  be 
kind  enough  to  tell  me  what  church  you  belong 
to?’  I  told  him  the  Brethren  or  *  Dunkers,’  as 
they  are  vulgarly  called.  ‘Ah!’  said  he,  ‘I 
thought  when  I  saw  you  dressed  in  a  plain  uni¬ 
form  you  were  a  “Dunker,”  but  when  you 
preached 

HEARTFELT  AND  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION 

I  was  puzzled;  for  I  heard  a  “  Dunker  ”  preacher 
in  Ohio,  some  years  ago,  and  the  way  he  put  the 
matter  I  got  the  idea  that  the  “  Dunkers  ”  do  not 
believe  in  experimental  religion.’  I  informed 
him  that  I  knew  of  no  church  that  believed  more 
firmly  in  heartfelt  religion;  for  we  teach  that 
Jesus  must  be  in  the  heart,  and  the  man  must  de¬ 
velop  from  within  out. 

“  To  ministers  who  love  the  Lord,  permit  me 
to  say,  Never  fail  to  preach  your  first  sermon  in  a 
new  place  on  the  heartfelt  religion  of  Jesus ,  our 
Lord.  So  much  depends  on  starting  just  right.” 

In  going  over  a  life  so  full  of  good  deeds  and  a 
heart  so  Christed  with  love  for  Jesus  and  human 
kind,  one  can  but  exclaim:  “  Thank  God  that  Un¬ 
cle  John  lived  and  will  live  forever;  for  he  passed 
through  the  world  with  gracious,  grateful  dignity 
and  faithfulness.  While  replete  with  faith  and 
joy  there  were 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


41 


for 


WAY-MARKS  OF  PAIN  AND  SORROW; 

“  Into  each  life  some  rain  must  fall, 
Some  days  must  be  dark  and  dreary.” 


“  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ”  is  the 
message  of  heaven.  To  him  the  morning  was 
“just  over  the  hill,” — the  eternal  boundless  life, — 
where  he  longed  to  go,  and  has  gone. 

In  the  midst  of  his  religious  and  family  duties 
in  his  new  home  in  Illinois,  his  dwelling  was 
burned  to  ashes  and  with  this  all  his  papers  and 
records  which  would  now  be  valuable  in  making 
up  this  brief  sketch  of  a  busy  life.  But 


FIRE  AND  FLOOD 

did  not  crush  his  great  heart:  he  built  again, — not 
alone  for  himself,  nor  yet  wholly  for  his  family, 
but  for  all  who  needed  shelter  the  roof  of  his 
dwelling  was  like  the  roof  of  his  heart,  a  shelter 
for  poor  and  rich  alike. 

Having  completed  the  building  he  set  a  day  to 
go  to  Decatur,  to  purchase  household  goods. 
The  day  thus  set  apart  having  dawned,  a  call 
came  to  attend  a  funeral  and  comfort  the  be¬ 
reaved  and  preach  to  the  living.  He  went. 
That  night,  after  returning  from  the  services, 
some  one  broke  into  his  house,  carried  out  a 
chest,  broke  it  open  and  stole  all  his  money, 


42 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


about  $200.  Had  he  loved  this  present  world 
more  than  he  loved  Jesus,  he  would  have  gone 
for  furniture  rather  than  to  a  funeral,  and  thus 
had  the  use  of  his  money.  But  Christians  must 
forsake  all  for  Jesus  and  learn  the  worth  of  self- 
denial.  The  more  the  servant  of  the  Lord  works 
to  hinder  Satan  getting  hold  of  hearts,  the  more 
Satan  will  try  to  destroy  that  servant. 

For  some  time  he  was  the  only  ordained  elder 
in  that  part  of  Southern  Illinois,  and 

TRAVELED  OVER  LARGE  AREAS 

in  search  of  isolated  members  and  preached  to 
them.  He  preached  the  first  sermon  in  Cham¬ 
paign  County,  Illinois.  While  in  Indiana  he 
heard  that  there  was  a  brother  living  near  Ur- 
tana  in  that  County,  by  the  name  of  Geo.  Dilling, 
so  on  his  return  trip  made  inquiry  for  him.  One 
evening,  about  sundown,  he  stopped  at  a  place  to 
remain  over  night,  and  when,  upon  inquiry  from 
his  host,  he  learned  that  Bro.  Dilling  lived  near 
by,  he  was  glad.  After  supper  the  man  sent 
his  hired  hand  with  the  preacher  to  find  the  home 
of  brother  Dilling;  but  the  timber  being  abundant 
on  the  ground  and  the  hired  hand  not  being  well 
informed  as  to  the  way  through  it,  they  did  not 
reach  the  sought-for  home  until  9  o’clock  at 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


43 


night.  Of  course  there  were  several  glad  now, — 
not  only  the  missionary  preacher,  but  brother 
and  sister  Dilling  also.  Arrangements  were 
made  for  a  meeting  in  a  schoolhouse  near  by,  a 
month  from  that  time,  and  on  his  return  he  was 
greeted  not  only  with  a  house  full  of  hearers,  but 
with  almost  a  yardful,  so  eager  were  the  people 
to  hear  the  Gospel.  In  mingling  with  the  peo¬ 
ple,  he  learned  that  everybody  spoke  highly  of 
Bro.  Dilling;  so  he  thought  it  would  pay  to 
preach  there,  since  Bro.  Dilling  had  lived  out  his 
profession.  Regular  meetings  were  held  there¬ 
after,  and  soon  there  were  additions  to  the 
church.  The  preaching  was  acceptable,  and  the 
labors  of  our  subject  continued  to  spread.  The 
Baptist  minister  of  the  town  of  Champaign  invit¬ 
ed  him  to  preach  in  the  Baptist  house,  which  he 
did. 

During  the  late  war  Uncle  John  traveled  a 
great  deal  and  had  many 

CURIOUS  EXPERIENCES. 

One  time  he  preached  the  funeral  discourse  of  a 
drunkard  at  a  place  near  Peru,  Indiana,  and  while 
some  were  curious  to  hear  what  he  would  say  of  a 
drunken  man,  he  simply  preached  Jesus  to  the 
living  and  said  nothing  about  the  dead  man. 


44 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


Afterwards  he  was  called  to  Edgar  County, 
Ill.,  to  preach  the  funeral  of  a  man  who  had  been 
shot  by  soldiers.  This  man  was  in  sympathy 
with  the  Southern  cause  and  was  very  outspoken 
in  his  views.  There  were  some  Union  soldiers  at 
home  on  a  furlough,  and  they  told  the  man  that 
he  would  be  much  better  oT  if  he  were  to  quit 
talking  against  the  United  States  and  especially 
since  he  lived  under  the  Union  flag  and  enjoyed 
all  the  blessings  of  a  free  country.  But  he  heed¬ 
ed  not  this  advice  but  was  bold  to  speak  evil  of 
his  rulers,  of  which  bad  deed  God  does  not  ap¬ 
prove.  The  talk  of  this  man  stirred  up  the  old 
soldiers  and  the  angry  feelings  ran  so  high  that 
the  soldiers  shot  eleven  bullets  through  the 
Southern  sympathizer. 

Now,  as  there  was  a  dead  man  on  hand,  a  funer¬ 
al  must  take  place,  hence  the  wife  of  the  dead 
man  sent  for  Uncle  John  to  do  the  preaching. 

Uncle  John  listened  to  the  call. 

THE  EXCITEMENT  RAN  HIGH. 

The  people  were  eager  to  hear  what  Uncle  John 
would  say  about  the  dead  man.  They  thought  as 
they  were  partisans,  so  he  must  be  a  partisan  in 
the  same  sense.  But  Uncle  John  was  a  partisan 
of  Jesus,  and  Jesus  teaches  his  followers  “to  be 


A  MODEL  LIFE.  45 

at  peace  with  all  men”  and  “do  violence  to  no 
man.”  Therefore  Uncle  John  did  not  take  sides 
with  either  party,  but  stood  by  the  teachings  of 
his  Chief  Captain.  He  simply  preached  to  the 
living,  not  to  the  dead,  pointing  his  hearers  to 
the  King  of  kings,  and  the  Kingdom  of  joyous 
righteousness.  The  people  were  pleased  with 
his  discourse.  He  did  not  meddle  with  their  dif¬ 
ferences. 

After  the  services  a  preacher,  who  was  pastor 
of  another  people,  invited  Uncle  John  to  his 
home.  While  there,  Uncle  John  gave  him  some 
reading  matter,  containing  some  of  the  leading 
principles  of  the  Brethren  church,  and  after  read¬ 
ing  it  carefully,  that  preacher  said,  “  Well ,  it  is  all 
true .” 

He  was  also  called  to  preach  the  funeral  of  Mr. 
Barnhart,  a  conductor  of  the  Wabash  Railway4 
who  was  killed  in  a  railway  wreck  at  St.  Charles 
Bridge,  Mo.  Uncle  John  was 

QUITE  A  FAVORITE 

among  railroad  men  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  quite  a  number  have  made  inquiries  as  to  his 
last  days. 

One  time  in  his  travels  in  Indiana,  he  was 
asked  to  preach  in  a  hotel.  He  preached.  Some 


4  6 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


time  afterward  a  drunken  man,  some  distance 
from  this  hotel,  died  and  his  wife  wanted  a 
preacher  to  preach  who  did  not  know  the  kind  of 
life  lived  by  her  companion.  A  gentleman  told 
her  he  had  heard  a  curious  old  man  preach  a 
good  sermon  in  a  hotel,  so  she  sent  for  Uncle 
John.  Again  some  wondered  what  he  would  say 
about  a  man  who  died  by  strong  drink,  but  he 
told  “ the  story  of  the  Cross”  to  the  living  and 
left  the  dead  alone,  which  was  a  great  relief  to 
the  widow.  Here  is  another  lesson  that  can  be 
learned  by  those  who  most  need  it. 

In  nearly  every  instance  he 

MET  HIS  OWN  EXPENSES 

in  his  long  and  successful  preaching  tours 
through  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  always  paid  his 
expenses  to  Annual  Meeting.  These  self-sacri¬ 
fices  always  brought  to  him  their  full  measure  of 
joy  and  peace.  A  husband  that  could  go  eighteen 
or  twenty  miles  to  meeting  with  his  wife,  on 
horseback,  along  Indian  trails,  each  carrying  a 
child,  knew  how  to  enjoy  “  the  peace  that  passeth 
understanding,”  and  build  up  members  of  Christ’s 
body  in  fear  and  true  holiness.  But  no  one  can 
have  a  cup  of  continuous  joy.  It  will  be  dashed 
to  the  ground,  and  so  it  was  with  Uncle  John.  In 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


47 


May,  1887,  while  Annual  Meeting  was  in  session, 
his  companion,  who  so  long  shared  his  love  and 
trials,  went  over  into  the  new  world,  full  of  years 
and  blessing?, 

DYING  AS  SHE  LIVED, 

faithful  to  her  God  and  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ. 
She  was  nearly  eighty  years  of  age. 

As  a  pioneer  missionary  not  many  have  done 
more  in  America.  Sixty-one  years  going  about 
seeking  the  poor  and  lonely,  giving  words  of 
comfort  to  old  and  young,  building  up  churches, 
caring  for  the  weak  and  helping  in  every  way  to 
do  good,  must  bring  great  joy  in  heaven  to 
angels,  and  “spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect/’ 
For  some  years  his  helper  was  Eld.  Joseph  Hen¬ 
dricks,  a  man  of  great  love  and  power  in  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  He  sleeps  in  Jesus  now.  During  their  first 
year  of  Gospel  missionary  work  in  Illinois,  they 
received  120  persons  into  the  church, — a  number 
quite  close  to  that  of  the  prayer-meetiqg  in  Jeru¬ 
salem,— Acts  1:  13-15. 

In  his  efforts  to  find  isolated  members,  he  of¬ 
ten  traveled  long  distances  and 

o 

OVERCAME  MANY  DIFFICULTIES. 

He  heard  that  there  were  “  Dunkers  ”  in  Fulton 
C^i'v.ty,  Illinois,  so  he  and  his  wife  set  out  to  find 


48 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


them,  but  knew  the  name  of  no  one.  When  they 
got  across  the  Illinois  River,  they  saw  a  cabin  on 
the  bank,  and  some  women  there.  He  went  to 
them  and  asked  them  if  they  knew  any  “  Bunk¬ 
ers”  in  that  County.  They  smiled  and  said  they 
did.  One  of  them  briefly  told  him  which  way  to 
go,  and,  after  driving  twelve  miles,  they  came  to 
the  house  of  Eld.  John  Fitz  and  met  with  great 
rejoicing. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  far- 
reaching  incidents  of  his  life  occurred  during  the 
war  of  1861-5.  The  first  church  member  drafted 
in  Illinois  lived  thirty-five  miles  from  Cerro 
Gordo,  and  was  well  known  by  Uncle  John. 

Uncle  John  accompanied  by  another  member  of 
the  church  took  $300  and  went  to  Jacksonville, 
Ill.,  to  commute  for 

THE  DRAFTED  BROTHER. 

They  went  to  the  Provost  Marshal’s  office,  and 
stating  their  mission  to  him,  he  said  there  was  no 
such  law  that  a  man  could  pay  $300  and  be  ex¬ 
empt  from  military  duty.  Uncle  John  had  a 
copy  of  the  law  with  him  and  gave  it  to  the  Mar¬ 
shal  to  read.  He  read  it  with  surprise,  saying  he 
never  before  knew  such  a  law.  They  all  three 
next  went  to  see  another  man,  and  when  the  Mar- 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


49 


shal  told  him  of  the  case  he,  too,  said  there  was 
no  such  law.  The  Marshal  said  he  himself  had 
thought  so,  but  these  “  Dunkers  ”  were  better  in¬ 
formed  and  had  brought  a  copy  of  the  law  with 
them,  and  he  had  read  it,  and  requested  the  man 
to  read  it  also,  which  he  did;  and  he,  too,  said  he 
had  not  known  of  such  a  law.  They  now  went  to 
a  lawyer  and  he,  too,  denied  there  being  such  a 
law,  but  the  Marshal  showed  him  the  book  with 
it  in,  and  he  was  convinced.  The  next  question 
was,  who  had  authority  to  receive  the  money. 
They  sent  the  two  brethren  to  Springfield  to  see 
the  man  who  could  take  the  money  and  receipt 
for  it.  This  man  asked  many  questions,  and  as 
Uncle  John  had  taken  the  precaution  to  carry 
with  him  copies  of  the  Annual  Meeting  decisions, 
both  in  English  and  German,  they  were  found  to 
be  invaluable  aids  in  the  solution  of  this  problem. 
They  were  asked  whether  the  drafted  brother  had 
so  far  been  a  consistent  member,  and  had  lived  up 
to  the  rules  of  the  church. 

Fortunately  for  the  drafted  man  on  that  occa¬ 
sion,  he  had  lived  consistently,  and  after  the  two 
had  affirmed  to  this,  the  money  was  taken  and 
the  brother  relieved  of  any  further  duty  under 

that  draft. 

On  arriving  at  home  Uncle  John  told  the  mem- 


50 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


bers  of  the  church  of  the  incidents  of  the  trip, 
and  that  if  they  would  be  consistent  members  he 
would  gladly  share  all  he  had  to  help  them  from 
going  to  war  to  shed  blood.  If  they  would  live 
right,  something  could  be  done  for  them  if  they 
were  drafted,  and  if  they  did  not  live  right  noth¬ 
ing  could  be  done  to  keep  them  out  of  the  army. 
This  incident  should  impress  every  member  with 
the  high  duty  of  living  up  to  the  profession  of 
true  principles  on  all  questions  and  not  to  be¬ 
come  entangled  with  the  strifes  and  difficulties  of 
mankind. 

In  the  year  1878,  Uncle  John 

BUILT  A  MEETINGHOUSE 

at  his  own  expense,  in  Cerro  Gordo,  Ill.,  and 
gave  it  to  the  Lord  and  his  people.  Luke  7:  4,  5. 
A  nice  picture  of  this  house  is  shown  on  page  51. 

Now  in  those  days  there  were  few  Sunday 
schools  among  the  people  of  his  choice.  While 
he  was  putting  up  the  building  the  children  who 
loved  him  so  dearly,  when  meeting  him  on  the 
street,  would  ask:  “Uncle  John,  when  the  meet¬ 
inghouse  is  built  will  you  let  us  have  Sunday 
school  in  it?  We  want  to  go  to  Sunday  school. 

o  j 

Won’t  you  have  one?” 

This  touched  his  warm  heart,  for  he  very  great- 


Meetinghouse  Built  by  Uncle  John  Metzger  at  Cerrogordo,  Ill. 


s 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


53 


ly  loved  children.  It  made  a  deep  and  lasting 
impression  on  his  mind,  for  often  he  talked  to 
children  in  public  and  always  noticed  them  wher¬ 
ever  he  met  them. 

When  the  house  was  finished  he  told  the 
church  she  could  have  it,  use  it,  enjoy  it  and 
praise  the  Lord  in  it,  providing  she  would  organ¬ 
ize  and  conduct 


A  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

for  the  help  of  the  children,  teaching  them  the 
truth  of  Jesus  in  all  simplicity.  To  this  the 
church  agreed,  and  that  was  a  happy  day  to  Un¬ 
cle  John  and  the  children,  when  a  Sunday  school 
was  organized  and  the  truth  was  taught  to  the 
young  in  a  manner  that  they  could  understand  it. 
Some  of  those  who  were  then  boys  and  girls  are 
now  men  and  women,  and,  no  doubt,  will  read 
this  with  joy,  remembering  the  happy  hours  in 
Uncle  John’s  m6etinghouse. 

In  1 88 1  there  was  a  strong  tide  of  feeling  for 

CITY  MISSION  WORK, 

and  he  shared  this  feeling.  Going  to  St.  Louis 
and  finding  no  place  to  hold  services,  he  went  to 
the  Salvation  Army  hall.  The  leader  of  the 
meeting  saw  him  and  urged  him  to  speak,  and  as 
the  rules  limited  the  speakers  to  five  minutes,  he 
did  his  best  in  that  time. 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


The  next  day  being  Sunday  he  was  invited  to 
be  present  a  3  P.  M.  and  preach;  he  could  have 
all  the  time  he  wanted.  In  the  forenoon  he  went 
out  to  the  Park  and  seeing  many  people  there,  he 
began  to  preach  to  them.  Next  he  went  to  the 
river  bank  where  he  spoke  about  twenty  minutes 
to  about  five  hundred  people,  and  then  invited 
them  to  the  Hall  where  he  preached,  as  per  his 
appointment. 

In  the  evening  he  again  attended  the  Salvation 
Army  services,  and  the  leader  requested  that  he 
should  go  out  on  the  balcony  and  preach  to  the 
people,  which  he  did.  In  this  way  and  upon  ev¬ 
ery  occasion  he  declared  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  as 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  all  them  that 
believe.  In  a  week  there  were  four  applicants 
for  baptism,  in  a  month  four  more;  and  at  nearly 
every  meeting  some  were  added  to  the  church. 
He  spent  much  time 

VISITING  FROM  HOUSE  TO  HOUSE 

and  talking  to  the  people  concerning  Jesus. 

These  efforts  resulted  in  the  need  of  a  church- 
house,  hence  contributions  were  asked  for  through 
the  church  papers,  and  the  responses  were  num¬ 
erous.  At  the  Annual  Meeting  at  Ashland,  Ohio, 
in  1881,  a  collection  was  taken  up  for  this  pur- 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


55 


pose  and  all  the  means  given  to  Uncle  John  to 
erect  a  house  of  worship  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He 
determined  not  to  build  until  sufficient  means 
came  to  hand,  and  in  1883  he  began  work.  All 
the  care  and  labor  fell  to  him,  and,  perplexing  as 
it  was,  he  went  through  it  successfully  and  kept 
an  accurate  account  of  all  money  received  and 
paid  out,  which  is  yet  carefully  preserved. 

An  incident,  in  the  building  of  said  house  of 
worship,  occurred,  which  is  worthy  of  record. 
When  the  building  was  almost  finished,  the  work¬ 
men 

DEMANDED  A  “TREAT,” 

declaring  that  they  would  not  finish  it  unless  he 
would  “treat.”  He  insisted  he  could  not  give 
them  strong  drink,  which  they  asked  for,  and 
they  were  equally  determined  not  to  go  on  with 
the  work  unless  he  did  “treat.”  Now,  when  two 
men  or  two  parties  set  themselves  so  firmly  op¬ 
posite  to  each  other,  they  are  not  apt  to  get  to¬ 
gether  unless  one  of  them  will  yield.  Uncle  John 
could  not  and  would  not  deal  out  beer  or  whis¬ 
key,  but  he  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  He  could 
“  treat,”  and  so  he  carried  to  them  a  lot  of  fine 
watermelons.  These  did  not  make  drunk,  but 
they  satisfied  the  wishes  of  the  workmen,  and  the 
house  was  soon  completed,  honorably  to  all  con- 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


36 

cerned.  All  of  the  accounts  and  work  were  care¬ 
fully  gone  over  by  a  committee  chosen  by  Annual 
Meeting  ana  found  to  be  correct  and  satisfactory. 

Uncle  John  filled 

A  WIDE  FIELD  OF  USEFULNESS 

in  his  day.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Standing 
Committee  of  Annual  Conference  sixteen  times, 
and  attended  all  the  Annual  Meetings,  except  a 
few,  since  1848.  He  was  chosen  as  a  member  of 
a  Committee,  to  visit  local  churches,  by  twenty- 
three  Annual  Meetings,  besides  being  a  member 
of  a  Committee  in  a  special  case  in  Tennessee. 
He  was  Moderator  of  the  District  Meeting  in 
Southern  Illinois  for  many  years,  but,  believing 
in  putting  others  to  work  and  especially  encour¬ 
aging  the  younger  to  greater  activity,  he  then 
urged  that  others  take  the  lead  and  give  him  re¬ 
lief. 

Th  roughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
Brotherhood,  Uncle  John  was  well  known,  and 
only  known  to  be  loved  for  his  devotion  to  God 
and  His  cause,  and  his  willingness  to  aid  in  the 
building  up  of  truth  and  mercy. 

Feb.  26,  1889,  he  was  married  to  Permelia 

Wolf,  of  Adams  County,  Illinois.  This  marriage, 
as  his  first  one  was,  proved  to  be  a  happy  union; 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


57 


for  Aunt  Permelia  is  a  pure  and  noble-hearted 
woman,  and  knew  how  to  make  home  sweet  and 
beautiful  for  Uncle  John  and  herself.  She  gave 
out  sunshine  and  bright  words  to  all  around  her, 
and  helped  her  husband  in  all  that  was  good  and 
pure  and  noble. 

‘‘The  bird  that  soars  on  highest  wing 
Builds  on  the  ground  her  lowly  nest; 

And  she  that  doth  most  sweetly  sing 
Sings  in  the  shade  when  all  things  rest.” 

They  began  making  a  home 

IN  LORDSBURG,  CALIFORNIA, 

in  the  autumn  of  1890.  The  picture  in  the  first 
part  of  this  book  shows  only  a  part  of  his  place. 
It  was  not  long  until  it  was  noted  for  its  sweet 
and  ever  brilliant  flowers  and  shrubs  and  trees. 
It  is  one  of  the  prettiest  places  in  town,  for  Un¬ 
cle  John  and  Aunt  Permelia  knew  how  to  hurry 
on  the  flowers  and  green  grass.  By  this  time 
Uncle  John  was  getting  quite  old,  and  as  he  did 
not  travel  so  much,  he  spent  a  good  deal  of  time 
taking  care  of  things  on  his  place.  He  made  a 
nice  fountain  in  front  of  his  house,  and  in  this  he 
put  a  number  of  gold-fish.  He  loved  to  see  them 
swim  and  play  in  the  clear  water.  He  put  a  pile 
of  stones  in  the  pool  for  the  fish  to  hide  under. 

In  the  spring  of  1891  Uncle  John  planted 


58 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


peach,  plum  and  prune-trees.  The  peach-trees 
bore  some  fruit  the  same  year.  And  when  he 
planted  orange-trees  that  same  year, — 1891, — 
some  said  he  would  not  live  to  eat  fruit  from 
them.  Well,  he  lived  to  eat  oranges  that  grew 
on  his  trees  in  1893,  1894,  1895,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1896  sold  twenty-three  boxes  of  oranges.  His 
ground  measures  75x130  feet,  yet  on  that  little 
patch  he  and  his  wife  raised  more  fruit  than  some 
young  men  would  from  an  acre.  The  sweet,  fra¬ 
grant  flowers,  the  delicious  fruits,  the  neat,  all- 
the-year  green  grass,  the  clean  walks,  the  climb¬ 
ing  roses  make  one  great,  grand  picture  of  two 
soul-cleansed  souls  in  true  happiness. 

Uncle  John  was  no  learned  man,  but  he  was  a 
knowing  man,  did  not  love  ignorance,  and  always 
tried  to  look  at  the  right  side  of  education.  True 
and  useful  knowledge  had  its  charms  for  him. 

When  the  Lordsburg  College  was  started,  in 
1892,  he  and  his  wife  sought  and  obtained  permis¬ 
sion  to  plant  on  the  west  or  sunset  side  of  the 
stately  building  a  bed  of  pretty  carnations. 
They  set  the  plants  so  as  to  read,  in  large  letters, 

“  GOD  BLESS  OUR  SCHOOL.” 

These  plants  grew  and  for  several  years  were 
very  beautiful.  How  fitting  that  they  should 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


59 


laden  the  sunset  zephyrs  with  their  fragrance, 
since  that  hand  that  planted  them  was  then  sink¬ 
ing  low  down  in  the  horizon  of  life. 

The  meaning  of  words,  the  laws  of  language, 
principles  of  mathematics  he  could  not  impart  in¬ 
side  the  building  to  youthful  brain,  but  here,  out¬ 
side,  the  loving  hands  of  these  two  old  people 
could  leave  a  constant  reminder  of  their  respect 
for  sanctified  truth. 

By  the  people  who  knew  him  in  California,  as 
well  as  those  in  the  East,  he  was 

GREATLY  ESTEEMED 

for  his  steady  goodness.  Always  were  his  words 
listened  to  by  sincere  hearts  with  great  respect. 
At  the  District  Meeting  of  California  and  Ari¬ 
zona,  in  Glendora,  Cal.,  March  29th,  1896,  there 
took  place  a  touching  scene  which  will  long  last 
with  those  who  were  present.  All  day  Uncle  John 
was  a  good  listener  to  the  thoughts  of  those  who 
spoke  in  advocacy  of  higher  life,  and  he  seemed 
to  enjoy  the  services  more  than  usually.  But  his 
little  body  was  feeble.  His  eye,  however,  was 
not  dim,  nor  his  hearing  weak,  nor  mind  un¬ 
steady.  At  the  close  of  the  day,  just  before  the 
members  were  about  to  separate  and  go  to  their 
homes,  to  renew  the  warfare  against  self  and  sin, 


6o 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


Uncle  John  was  asked  to  talk  to  the  large  audi¬ 
ence  once  more.  The  scene  was  impressive. 
This,  likely,  would  be  the  last  District  Meeting 
for  him  on  earth  in  the  flesh.  He  arose  with  dif¬ 
ficulty.  Supported,  as  was  Moses  in  his  great 
struggle  on  the  mount,  he  spoke  in  clear  voice 
and  with  deep  emotion  of  his  love  to  God  and 
the  church.  He  counseled  peace  and  love  among 
his  dear  brethren,  urged  them  on  to  faithfulness 
and  endurance,  while  sobs  and  weepings  seemed 
to  fill  every  soul  present.  This  was  his  last  pub¬ 
lic  talk,  and,  perhaps,  the  most  feeling  one  ever 
made  by  him. 

“To  him  sweet  odors  from  that  isle  were  blown, 

And  all  the  yearnings  of  his  soul  were  there.” 

Like  the  setting  sun,  with  a  mild  light,  shed 
ding  his  parting  rays  over  a  lovely  earth,  that 
harmless,  purified  soul  spoke  a  sweet  farewell, — 
a  hallowed  “do  well,”  with 

A  BLESSING  TO  EVERY  ONE 
who  loves  Jesus. 

“  He  sets  as  sets  the  morning  star, 

Which  goes  not  down  behind  the  darkened  West, 

Xor  hides  obscured  amid  the  tempests  of  the  sky, 

But  melts  away  into  the  light  of  heaven.” 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


6l 


While  Uncle  John  lived  in  Illinois  he  was  use¬ 
ful  to  members  of  the  church  in  many  ways.  He 
usually  made  arrangements  with  railways  for  low 
rates  to  the  yearly  Conference.  One  of  his  es¬ 
teemed  friends  was  Mr.  Kirtland  H.  Wade,  who 
was,  for  many  years,  identified  with  the  Wabash 
Railway.  In  1889  Mr.  Wade  became  General 
Manager  of  the  Southern  California  Railway, 
with  headquarters  in  Los  Angeles.  Uncle  John 
made  himself  useful  in  many  ways  to  Mr.  Wade, 
and,  up  to  the  time  he  left  California,  did  many 
kind  acts  for  the  Brethren  in  such  lines  as  he 
could.  It  is  significant  that  his  old  friend,  Mr. 
Wade,  should  also  leave  this  earth  so  soon  after 
Uncle  John.  He  died  of  apoplexy  in  Los  Ange¬ 
les,  Cal.,  March  17,  1897. 

Railway  people,  who  knew  Uncle  John,  greatly 
respected  him.  He  made  fourteen  trips  over  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  across  the  desert  to  and 
from  California.  He  was  known  as  “Uncle  John, 
— the  good  man  from  Lordsburg.” 

The  last  time  he  was  at  our  home,  he  said  to 
the  writer:  “I  am  ready  to  go  into  another 
world, — 

READY  TO  GO  HOME 

to  my  Savior;  but  the  love  of  my  dear  brethren 
and  sisters  is  strong  and  I  can  hardly  give  them 


62 


A  MODERN  LIFE. 


up.  O,  I  love  the  Brotherhood;  I  have  had  so 
many  pleasant  seasons  with  those  I  love.  It 
seems  like  tearing  away  from  them  to  go,  but  I 
cannot  stay  with  them  much  longer,  I  must  go!  ” 

In  May,  1896,  he  and  his  wife,  son  and  wife, 
and  his  daughter  Mary,  left  Lordsburg,  California 
for  Cerro  Gordo,  Illinois,  his  old  home.  Quite  a 
number  of  dear  friends  went  to  the  depot,  to  bid 
him  farewell,  knowing  they  should  see  his  face  no 
more,  nor  grasp  his  hand  in  friendship,  nor  hear 
his  voice,  nor  sit  with  him  in  Divine  worshio. 

The  journey  of  two  thousand  miles  over  moun¬ 
tains  and  prairies,  by  flowing  streams  and  lowing 
herds  was  made  in  all  patience,  though  the  body 
was  very,  very  weak.  He  was  met  at  his  old  home 
by  many  friends.  They  still  loved  and  respected 
him.  But  the  home  of  his  soul  was  in  the  great 
beyond, — he  sought  a  house  not  made  with  hands 
in  the  City  of  our  living  Lord. 

Think  of  the  many  ten  thousands  who  heard  him 
with  strong  voice,  with  sound  words,  with  pure 
heart  and  sincere  mind,  urging  them  to  love  Jesus 
and  obey  Him.  In  church  work  he  united  the  two 
traits,  the 


TWO  POWERS  OF  SUCCESS, 

kindness  and  firmness.  He  was  not  a  one-sided 
man.  He  loved  all  the  time  he  said  no,  just  as 


A  MODEL  LIFE.  6 3 

well  while  he  was  saying  yes.  Patience  possessed 

him. 

But  once  in  all  our  labors  with  Uncle  John  did 
we  hear  him  complain.  For  doing  his  duty  at  a 
church  meeting,  a  man  possessed  with  demons 
got  very  angry  at  him  and  often  tried  to  do  him 
harm.  On  one  occasion  this  bad  man  pulled  him 
by  his  beard  and  tried  to  injure  him,  but  the  peo¬ 
ple  took  away  the  maniac.  After  being  in  Cali¬ 
fornia  a  few  years,  that  same  wicked  fellow  wrote 
he  was  coming  to  Lordsburg,  Cal.  Uncle  John 
felt  that  if  the  man  came  he  would  again  be 
attacked  and  abused.  “1  have  labored  long  and 
hard  for  the  church,  and  now  I  do  not  seem  to  be 
protected  from  this  wicked  man,” 

“Well,”  said  I,  “God  helping  me,  I  will  try  to 
shield  you.”  I  wrote  the  man  a  kind  letter  and 
stated  that,  since  he  had  written  me  concerning 
railroad  fare,  route,  etc.,  1  thought  he  better  not 
come;  for  if  he  came  to  California  and  would 
abuse  Uncle  John  here  as  he  did  East,  I  could 
not  guarantee  that  the  young  men  vvouid  not  do 
him  bodily  harm,  for  they  loved  Uncle  John  and 
would  protect  him.  This  kept  the  man  with  de¬ 
mons  out  of  California,  and  Uncle  John  had  con¬ 
tinued  rest. 


64 


A  MODEL  LIFE. 


“Our  hearts  can  know  no  resting, 

Except  in  Thee; 

Our  barks  the  waves  breasting 
On  life’s  rough  sea; 

Body,  and  soul,  and  spirit,  are  daily  warm  with  care, 

The  covert  of  the  wing  is  sought — the  needed  rest  is  there; 

And  though  the  toil  cease  only 
When  life  is  won; 

In  Thee  our  rest  remaineth, 

O  Christ,  the  Son. — Rev.  14:  ij. 

But  the  end  was  at  hand.  The  summons  to  go 
out  of  the  clay  house  and  be  hid  with  Christ  in 
God  (Col.  3:  3),  was  here,  and  he  could  not  diso¬ 
bey;  therefore,  in  his  old  home  in  Cerro  Gordo, 
Illinois,  surrounded  by  his  family,  he  fell  asleep 
calmly,  peacefully  in  Jesus,  at  9:  30  A.  M.,  May 
25th,  1896,  aged  eighty-eight  years,  five  months 
and  five  days. 

“For  all  the  saints  who  from  their  labor  rest, 

Who  Thee  by  faith  before  the  world  confessed, 

Thy  name,  O  Jesus,  be  forever  blessed.” 


m:**4 


